Stanford trustees approve tuition hike

Undergraduate tuition, room, board and fees will total $58,388 next year

Undergraduate costs at Stanford University  including tuition, room and board and a mandatory health fee -- will rise 3.5 percent next year, from $56,441 to $58,388, the university's board of trustees decided this week.

Broken down, undergraduates will pay $44,184 for tuition, $13,631 for room and board and $573 for a mandatory health fee.

A similar 3.5 percent increase was approved for most graduate and professional programs. Tuition for first-year students in the Graduate School of Business will go up 3.9 percent.

University leaders pledged to keep Stanford accessible through need-blind admission and a generous financial-aid program for students.

Currently, 50 percent of undergraduates receive need-based aid from Stanford and another 10 percent get athletic. Students whose parents earn below $100,000 a year pay no tuition, and those whose parents earn less than $60,000 a year pay no tuition or room and board charges.

"Stanford and its trustees continue to reaffirm their commitment to keeping a Stanford education affordable and to preserving access for the brightest undergraduates, regardless of their financial circumstances," Board of Trustees Chairman Steven A. Denning said.

Next year's tuition hike follows a similar 3.5 percent increase for the 2013-14 academic year that was announced one year ago this week.

This story contains 197 words.

If you are a paid subscriber, check to make sure you have
logged in.
Otherwise our system cannot recognize you as having full free access to our site.

If you are a paid print subscriber and haven't yet set up an online account,
click here
to get your online account activated.

Posted by Not OK
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Feb 12, 2014 at 1:18 pm

College tuition is too high. Other schools will copy Stanford in an attempt to appear comparable. Student debt is becoming a national problem. I would eliminate the comma between "Broken down" and "undergraduates"!

Posted by neighbor
a resident of another community
on Feb 12, 2014 at 8:47 pm

YES, tuition is too high, way too high. But, there's no competition or "race to the top" for tuition increases among schools.

While it's true that costs at Stanford-Princeton-Harvard-Duke are similarly high, these are not the highest cost universities. If you look at the highest private university fees (tuition + housing), most are very similar to Stanford's fees (regardless of size), many are higher, and there are some surprises. (SOURCE: Business Insider July 2013)

At least Stanford (along with other top private schools) provides 50% of its students with very significant support. Unfortunately, available "support" at most California public universities is only a very small fraction of costs..a couple thousand dollars at most.

It might be cheaper for students to apply to private universities and apply for scholarships and other financial support.

I certainly know that I could never afford to repeat my BA-MA-PhD history again.

Posted by neighbor
a resident of Greenmeadow
on Feb 13, 2014 at 10:31 am

To increase tuition while enjoying a billion dollar endowment seems crazy, but maybe it's just me.

To include room and board in college costs is a bit misleading. A non-student living on their own, sharing an apartment with a roommate and covering food, would pay more than the $13K quoted for Stanford room and board.

Did I miss something? Looks like free tuition to me. My parents never earned anywhere close to $100K/yr. Yeah, things were different in 1972, but even today 75% of U.S. households earn less than $100K. When did everyone begin objecting to soaking the rich?

Posted by fitbit
a resident of College Terrace
on Feb 16, 2014 at 9:07 pm

Please do not make generalizations about $100k income. In many metros, take the San Francisco bay area for example: $100k income is lower middle class. Say $5000/month after taxes, considering some of the highest costs of living, Stanford tuition is nowhere near affordable, and either the parents or student goes into over $200k of debt. For these reasons, many of these "middle / lower middle class" students decide they must forgo a Stanford education and go elsewhere.

Posted by neighbor
a resident of another community
on Feb 17, 2014 at 1:08 pm

Musical -- if your parents earned 100k in 1972, it would have been equal to 570k in today's dollars. an income of 100k in California urban areas is not "rich."

Fitbit -- Colleges take local cost of living differences into account when admitting students and offering financial aid.

Highly qualified students should apply to the schools they want to go to, and if the school wants them they find a scholarship/financial aid for the students from families with low-low/middle-and middle class incomes. The resulting cost to the student is often comparable to a state school's cost.

That being said, it still is very expensive to go to university. I was still paying my own student loans while also paying my kid's loans.

Don't miss out on the discussion!Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.

Email:

Post a comment

Posting an item on Town Square is simple and requires no registration. Just complete this form and hit "submit" and your topic will appear online.
Please be respectful and truthful in your postings so Town Square will continue to be a thoughtful gathering place for sharing community information
and opinion. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff.

We prefer that you use your real name, but you may use any "member" name you wish.

Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund
For the last 23 years, the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund has given away more than $4 million to local nonprofits serving children and families. When you make a donation, every dollar is automatically doubled, and 100% of the funds go directly to local programs. Itâ€™s a great way to ensure your charitable donations are working at home.